The invention relates to a model airplane of the glider or sailplane type made of foamed plastics, comprising rigid stabilizing surfaces and wings and having the bottom side of the fuselage provided with a hook disposed in the vicinity of the center of gravity in a vertical plane extending through the longitudinal axis of the fuselage, which hook is adapted for engaging an elastic band of the catapult.
Model planes are known to be more or less faithful reproductions of original or an altered scale--mostly of a scaled-down size--of very light materials (French Patent 2,374,929, German Utility Model 7,822,235, U.S. Pat. No. 4,512,690) or to be more or less imaginative aeroplane-like bodies (U.S. Pat. No. 3,619,937, U.S. Pat. No. 4,512,690) of optionally selectable materials.
In the case of air-worthy objects, the construction has to be stable in flight. The flight stability is achieved by the outer shape of the object. There also is a possibility of a limited control of the airplane by providing a construction stable in flight. Thus, one can also achieve certain aerobatic figures, in most cases, however, given a rather low technical expenditure, only during descent.
Climbing flights and aerobatic figures are mostly only possible at a rather high technical expenditure either as glider tugs or by providing the airplane with a remote-controlled engine. Such model airplanes are rather expensive and require a large free area of movement without any flight obstacles. Remote-controlled model airplanes can return to the launching site, but they may also get lost in adverse weather conditions, errors in operation or due to malfunctions, resulting in corresponding financial losses. Besides, motorized model airplanes generate disturbing noise and often must not be operated in residential areas or be operated only in zones open for such purposes.
Gliders for flinging or catapulting are known that are made by extrusion of very light and comparatively cheap materials, e.g. polyurethane (French Patent 2,374,929). Such model airplanes can be fit for flying without requiring much time-consuming assembling, but they cannot fly loopings safely. Due to an often unstable straight descent, they often have to be fetched from remote locations or get lost, e.g. in impassable terrains, high tree tops, in closed land areas or nearby bodies of water. In some cases, they also present a danger to the user, other players or persons not involved in the game, if the flinging or catapulting operation is maladroitly performed, or if the flight path is adversely influenced by winds.